April Fools from Google and Others: Were You Fooled Today?

TechCrunch has come up with a list of April Fools jokes they’ve found online, which they’re constantly upgrading. Here’s a selection of some you may, or may not, have come across online today:

Google Wave
Google announced Google Wave wave notifications for Google Wave. See the details here – Google will send an actual human to you to tell you when there’s a new Wave in your inbox.

YouTube
YouTube : who cares about HD when you can watch your videos in text. You can opt to watch a video in TEXTp or text only mode. Pretty neat.

Google Goes Nuclear
Techcrunch reports that Google is getting serious about nuclear research, and is building a uranium enrichment plant. Some experts say it’s for energy, other say it’s a nuclear deterrent against the China threat.

Google Search
Google really has their nerd on today and I love it. Search anything on their main search engine, and instead of telling you the amount of time it took to run your search it will use an arbitrary term like “jiffies” or “epochs.” Update: Google has renamed itself as Topeka .

Google Books
In Google Books there’s an option to see the text/images in 3D.

GoogleDocs
GoogleDocs takes cloud computing to the next level. Upload anything, literally: “Store your keys, remotes, rail passes, and other objects you commonly lose with Google Docs, and you’ll never have to worry about finding them again. “

Starbucks
Starbucks is now offering “micra” and “plenty” (128 fl. oz – think popcorn bucket) sizes. “Whether customers are looking for a large or small size, the Plenta and the Micra satisfy all US and Canada customers’ needs for more and less coffee,” said Hugh Mungis, Starbucks VP of Volume. “Our size selection is now plentiful.”

Wikipedia
Check out Wikipedia’s main page. Featured article is one on “wife-selling.” “Excerpt: “Along with other English customs, wife selling was exported to England’s American colonies, where one man sold his wife for “two dollars and half [a] dozen bowls of grogg.’”

Kodak
Introducing smelly photographs. Kodak’s aromaphotography will let you smell the image you’re looking at, all thanks to the latest breakthroughs in “Neuro-Optic-Nasal-Sense Imaging.”

Our Grade: B

CollegeHumor
Initially redirects you to a screen that says “Attention your IP address “XXX” has been logged by the US Department of Information….the website you were trying to access, www.collegehumor.com, is currently under investigation for harboring un-American sentiment and will remain offline until an official review can be conducted….”

Google Maps Australia
Driving directions in Aussie-speak . Like “chuck a right,” “ya want to take,” “catch exit.”

Guardian
Maybe all we need to solve the country’s broadband issues are more ferrets . Guardian reports that “Specially trained ferrets are being used to deliver broadband to rural areas following groundbreaking techniques used by an Internet provider.”

Google Mobile Search
“Well, I’m happy to announce that for those of you who turn to Google in search of, “where am I,” we finally have a better result. Starting today, just go to Google.com on your phone in the US, search for “where am I” , and wonder about your own whereabouts no more.”

Twittercism
“Twitter Announces ‘Pay As You Tweet’ Subscription Plan For All Users (And Will Backdate Your Invoice)"